Glass-furnace.



V. H. GREGORY.

GLASS FURNACE.

APPLIQATION FILED FEB. 20, 1912.

Patented Aug. 31; 1915.

UNTTE Eil ATES PATET FFTE.

VICTOR HERBERT GREGORY, OF GHISWICK, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 PILKINGTONBROTHERS, LIMITED, OF S'l. HELENS, ENGLAND.

GLASS-FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 31, 1915,

Application filed February 20, 1912. Serial No. 678,780.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VICTOR HERBERT GREGORY, asubject of the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,and residing at 59 Park road, Chiswick, Middlesex, England, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Glass- Furnaces,of which the following is a speciflcation.

This invention is for improvements in furnaces for heating thereversible pots from which glass is drawn. l/Vhen the pot is reversedthe glass remaining in it falls to the bottom of the furnace where thereis a hole to lead it out of the furnace. It has been found necessary todirect a portion of the gases entering the furnace on to the bottom ofthe furnace in order to keep the glass sufliciently liquid to flowthrough the hole without blocking it up.

A furnace has hitherto been constructed in which the floors of the portsleading the gases into the furnace incline downward and the gasesconsequently are directed more or less toward the bottom of the furnace.The greater portion of the gases however are required to be directedagainst the underside of the pot andto effect this a firebrick deflectorhas been fixed in front of the mouth of the gas port to direct the gasesupward. Such deflector however, for the reason stated, did not deflectthe whole of the gases upward because a passage had to be left beneathit through which a portion of the gases could reach the bottom of thefurnace. This latter portion of the gases was to a great extent wastedbecause it did not serve to heat the pot and the present invention hasfor its object a construction of furnace in which all the gases enteringthe furnace, as distinguished from part only of the gases as in thebefore mentioned known arrangement are directed against the underside ofthe pot while by the same means the glass on the bottom of the furnaceis kept sufficiently hot to 'flow out of the furnace. The constructionmoreover has the advantagethat the gases are distributed evenly over theunderside of the pot.

The accompanying drawing shows a Vertical section of a furnaceconstructed accord ing to this invention, and in the drawings, 1 is thepot, 2 is the body of the furnace, 3 the port which admits a mixture ofgas and air, l is the hole through which the glass which is sealed toprevent the escape of gas 'therethrough.

A bridge or deflector 5 of firebrick or other refractory material isfixed across the hole 4, so that its length is perpendicular to thedirection of flow of the inlet gases and therefore prevents the gasesflowing from the inlet port 3 along the bottom of the furnace to theoutlet port 7. This bridge 5 is of such width and so shaped as to allowa free passage for the glass to flow into the hole a on each side of thebridge, and it is so situated and shaped as to prevent the passage ofany appreciable amount of gas underneath it, and to deflect the gasesapproximately evenly over the underside of the pot. The gases, inpassing over the top of the bridge 5, heat it to a high temperature andthe bridge keeps the glass which falls on to it and the glass close toit at the edges of the hole 4, sufficiently liquid to flow through thehole. At the same time it will be seen that all the gases issuing fromthe port 3 are directed, as indicated by the dotted line 6, toward thepot, from a point immediately below it, with the result that, first, bysuitably shaping and placing the bridge 5, the gases can be evenlydistributed over the underside of the pot and secondly, the gasesimpinge on the pot in a direction approximately perpendicular to itsunder surface and so, by promoting a vigorous circulation of the gases,bring all the hottest gases into contact with the pot before they leavethe furnace.

It has been found that great economy in the amount of gas required toheat the pot results from the construction of furnace to keep the glasssufliciently liquid to flow I out of the furnace, and be so placed andso g v r, 1,151,942

shaped as to deflect all the gases against the underside of the pot.

I claim In a furnace for heating a reversible pot from which glass isdrawn, the combination With a downwardly inclined lateral port admittinggas into the furnace, an outlet for glass but not for gas in the bottom,and a lateral outlet for the gases, of a deflector 10 across the outletfor glass in the path of the incoming gases, and surfaces on thedeflector directing the gases impinging thereon toward the underside ofthe pot.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWoWitnesses. 15

VICTOR HERBERT GREGORY.

Witnesses E. H. BAILLIE, V. McDERMoTr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

